Irrigation Time Research Articles

Multi-year mapping of flood autumn irrigation extent and timing in harvested croplands of arid irrigation district

ABSTRACT Flood irrigation after crop harvest, e.g. autumn irrigation (AI), is a common irrigation practice in arid and semi-arid regions like Hetao Irrigation District (HID) in Northwest China to increase soil moisture and leach soil salt. Detailed information about the extent, timing, and amount of AI is imperative for modeling agro-hydrological processes and irrigation management. However, little attention is given to the identification of the above AI factors. There are basically three major difficulties in estimating the annual changes in AI, including a suitable index to identify AI, temporal instability of thresholds, and an effective validation method for irrigation timing. Therefore, this study proposes a simple and effective threshold-based method to extract the extent and timing of AI in the HID using MODIS water indices at a daily timescale. The Multi-Band Water Index (MBWI) time series is first reconstructed using an adaptive weighted Savitzky-Golay filter and then used to identify the AI extent and time. The proposed model has a stronger generalization capability both in time and space due to robust thresholds selected from the Z-score normalized feature variable. The model is validated both at pixels generated by the segmentation of Sentinel-derived MBWI using a threshold-based model and at sampling points from the field survey. Results show that the model performed well with an overall accuracy of more than 90.0% for the irrigation area. The overall accuracies of irrigation timing are 76.4% and 91.7% based on the middle-to-late and whole irrigation periods, respectively. We found a decreasing trend in the AI area and a gradual delay in the starting time of AI in the HID, mainly due to changes in cropping patterns, climate, and irrigation fees. Overall, the model is promising in identifying flood irrigation extent and timing in large irrigation districts and is helpful for irrigation scheduling.

Evaluation and Application of the AquaCrop Model in Simulating Soil Salinity and Winter Wheat Yield under Saline Water Irrigation

Saline water irrigation has been considered a useful practice to overcome the freshwater shortage in arid and semi-arid regions. Assessing and scheduling the appropriate irrigation water amount, salinity, and timing is essential to maintaining crop yield and soil sustainability when using saline water in agriculture. A field experiment that included two irrigation levels (traditional and deficit irrigation) and three water salinities (0, 5, and 10 dS/m) was carried out in the North China Plain during the 2017/18 and 2018/19 winter wheat growing seasons. AquaCrop was used to simulate and optimize the saline water irrigation for winter wheat. The model displayed satisfactory performance when simulating the volumetric soil water content (R2 ≥ 0.85, RMSE ≤ 2.59%, and NRMSE ≤ 12.95%), soil salt content (R2 ≥ 0.71, RMSE ≤ 0.62 dS/m, and NRMSE ≤ 26.82%), in-season biomass (R2 ≥ 0.89, RMSE ≤ 1.03 t/ha, and NRMSE ≤ 18.92%), and grain yield (R2 ≥ 0.92, RMSE ≤ 0.35 t/ha, and NRMSE ≤ 7.11%). The proper saline water irrigation strategies were three irrigations of 60 mm with a salinity up to 4 dS/m each at the jointing, flowering, and grain-filling stage for the dry year; two irrigations of 60 mm with a salinity up to 6 dS/m each at the jointing and flowering stage for the normal year; and one irrigation of 60 mm with a salinity up to 8 dS/m at the jointing stage for the wet year, which could achieve over 80% of the potential yield while mitigating soil secondary salinization. Nonetheless, the model tended to overestimate the soil moisture and wheat production but underestimate the soil salinity, particularly under water and salt stress. Further improvements in soil solute movement and crop salt stress are desired to facilitate model performance. Future validation studies using long-term field data are also recommended to obtain a more reliable use of AquaCrop and to better identify the influence of long-term saline water irrigation. Finally, AquaCrop maintained a good balance between simplicity, preciseness, and user-friendliness, and could be a feasible tool to guide saline water irrigation for winter wheat.

Influence of exogenous tryptophan application on production and carotenoids of Calendula officinalis under drip irrigation treatments

Calendula officinalis L. is primarily cultivated as cut flowers plant and also regarded as a medicinal plant with a variety of therapeutic uses. Irrigation management results in reduction in irrigation requirements, water saving and conservation. Tryptophan has a major role in improving plant stress tolerance to environmental stresses such as water deficiency. This study investigated the response of C. officinalis cultivated under drip irrigation system to the number of irrigation times week-1 and tryptophan foliar application in two successive seasons. Three irrigation treatments (once, twice and three times week-1) were used as the main plots and four tryptophan treatments (0, 15, 30 and 45 mg l-1) were applied as subplots with three replicates. Increasing the number of irrigation times from once to twice showed the highest values of investigated growth parameters, while three times a week decreased them to lower values than those of once a week.

Estimation of the Water Reserve in the Soil Using GIS and Its Application in Irrigated Olive Groves in Jaen, (Spain)

Soil water reserves are very important for irrigation scheduling in arid and semiarid conditions. In these regions, irrigated olive groves could save water and improve water resource management if the spatial and temporal patterns of water reserve were known. In this work, a large region characterized by olive monoculture located in Jaén, Spain was studied, as well as its water requirements and the evolution of the water reserve in the soil according to the time of year by using public data sources. In this way, climatic data, NDVI monthly mean, soil type, physicochemical and hydrological properties of the soil have been integrated in GIS by means of easy-to-use techniques. The results obtained from both the water balance and the evolution of water in the soil show that in the region studied, it is not advisable to manage a single irrigation schedule, as is currently the case, and that it is necessary to implement different irrigation times and strategies depending on the location of the plot. These results can serve as a basis for the design of specific irrigation schedules on daily, hourly or real-time time scales depending on the availability of data and the degree of precision sought.

Experimental and Numerical Prediction of Wetting Fronts Size Created by Sub-Surface Bubble Irrigation System

A bubble irrigation system (BIS) is a subsurface irrigation method recently introduced that may provide a better mechanism in terms of flow regulation, as it involves mainly the exchange of water and air bubbles under slight negative pressure. The negative pressure flow was created using inverted closed plastic bottles (ICPB) that connected to an elevated closed tank. Understanding the characteristics of wetting fronts is key in designing this irrigation system. This paper mainly presents the principles of BIS, the experimental measurements and software simulation of BIS wetting patterns, and the development of statistical models for BIS wetting patterns dimensions estimation. Laboratory experiments were accomplished to measure the BIS’s sharp-wetting fronts variation with four diameters of contact areas of ICPB and two different soil types, namely SS1 and SS2. In addition, numerical simulations using a 2D HYDRUS were performed to explore the possibility of using the simulated non-sharp wetting fronts in predicting BIS wetting fronts. The experimental results and numerical simulations show that the soil properties and the area of contact have a significant impact on the bubble flow rate and the shape and size of the wetting patterns. The hydraulic conductivity and the density of soil SS2, which were 62 and 22 percent, respectively, higher than soil SS1, have resulted in average incremental ratios of wetted depth and width by 94 and 178 percent, respectively. Results also show that more than 50 percent of the growth of wetting fronts’ width and depth occurred rapidly at the early portion of irrigation time before flattening at the latter time, indicating the effectiveness of the air–water exchange in regulating the amount of water supplied and in controlling wetting fronts propagation. Furthermore, based on experimental and simulation results, regression models have been developed for estimation of bubble flow rates and the size of wetting fronts. The developed models can be reliably used to predict the bubble flow rate and size of wetting patterns with high accuracy.

Optimal Sprinkler Application Rate of Water–Fertilizer Integration Machines Based on Radial Basis Function Neural Network

The application rate for sprinkler irrigation of water–fertilizer integration machines is an important technical parameter for efficient operation. If the value is too large, the equipment will produce runoff; if it is too small, the equipment will run too long and waste energy. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a feasible scientific and theoretical basis for developing a reasonable application rate. In this study, a mathematical model of soil infiltration for sprinkler irrigation with water and fertilizer integration machines was developed. Soil water accumulation time for different soil’s initial water content, bulk density, sprinkler application rate and soil texture were derived by the finite element method, and these data were used as a training database for the neural network. To make the neural network convenient for predicting the optimal application rate of sprinkler irrigation (the maximum application rate of sprinkler irrigation without runoff) in practice, the time of waterlogging, was multiplied by the optimal application rate of sprinkler irrigation to obtain the total irrigation volume. The optimal application rate of the sprinkler irrigation prediction model of radial basis function (RBF) neural network was constructed with total irrigation water, soil bulk density, initial water content and soil texture as inputs and compared with BP neural network and generalized regression neural network. The highest prediction accuracy of RBF neural network was obtained, and its average relative error was 0.11. To verify the accuracy of the RBF neural network application rate of sprinkler irrigation prediction model in real life, a sprinkler experiment was conducted in the laboratory of Guangzhou University, and the collected soil and lawn of Guangzhou University were used to simulate the actual environment. The results showed that the relative error between the RBF neural network prediction results and the actual values was generally around 10%, while for a total irrigation volume of 58 mm, the optimal application rate of sprinkler irrigation calculated with the model was 42 (mm/h), which can save 70% of irrigation time compared to the case of using the stable infiltration rate of soil as the application rate of sprinkler irrigation without water and fertilizer. Water and fertilizer losses were not observed. This indicates that the model proposed in this study is of practical value in determining the optimum application rate of sprinkler irrigation for water–fertilizer integration machines.

Influence of Micro-Furrow Depth and Bottom Width on Surface Water Flow and Irrigation Performance in the North China Plain

Improving traditional surface irrigation technology and vigorously promoting water-saving surface irrigation are important ways to improve the efficiency of water resource utilization. In our study, we propose a new technology of surface irrigation, micro-furrow irrigation, which combines the advantages of furrow irrigation and border irrigation. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effects of micro-furrow depth and bottom width on surface water flow and irrigation performance. Field experiments were conducted from 2019 to 2020 in Zhengzhou City, northern China. This work designed three bottom widths, BW1 (18 cm), BW2 (12 cm), and BW3 (6 cm), respectively, and three depths, D1 (15 cm), D2 (10 cm), and D3 (5 cm), respectively. Moreover, border irrigation was set as control treatment (CK). Additionally, field experiments were validated and simulated using the WinSRFR 5.1 model (Arid-Land Agricultural Research Center, USA). The results showed a significant negative correlation between depth and advance time and between depth and recession time. However, no significant correlation was found between bottom width and advance time, nor between bottom width and recession time. The advance times of micro-furrow irrigation were 1.23–4.77 min less than those of border irrigation. Concerning irrigation performance, compared to that of border irrigation, the application efficiency and distribution uniformity increased by 8–30% and −5–18%, respectively. However, the requirement efficiency decreased by 0–40%. Compared to that of border irrigation, the irrigation quota increased 21.61% under BW3D3 but decreased by 10.46–57.94% under other treatments. Therefore, micro-furrow irrigation can meet irrigation requirements despite low irrigation quota. Comprehensively considering the advance time, recession time, irrigation performance, and irrigation quota, we recommend a micro-furrow shape with a depth of 10 cm or 15 cm and bottom width of 6 cm.

Determining Soil Available Water Capacity and Reasonable Irrigation Volume in Dryland Pasture

Among the methods used to describe soil-available water in terms of yield, field water capacity and permanent wilting coefficient were considered as the upper and lower boundaries, respectively, for normal plant growth. This study investigated the soil properties and groundwater resources of the Hailiutu pasture in Inner Mongolia, China. Soil water characteristics and hydraulic conductivity function curves of the pasture soil were measured based on filter paper method. Experimental results showed that air-entry and residual value were determined to be 34.6% and 13.1%, corresponding to the field water capacity and permanent wilting coefficient, respectively, and the available water capacity was 218.0 mm. The downward velocity of the soil wetting front in the silt is 3.0 mm/h. Site investigation revealed that the pasture was a natural capillary barrier, and its critical suction could optimize the upper boundary of irrigation. Considering the limited underground water resources, shallow water level, and the transpiration of Caragana Korshinskii in the pasture, an available drip irrigation method was designed. The spacing between drip irrigation pipes is 60 cm, the spacing between drip holes is 60 cm, the drip irrigation volume per hole is 475.2~838.8 mL/d, the drip irrigation time is 110~200 min at each night. Each hectare pasture exhausts 13.5~22.5 m3 water each day. Field tests showed that the proposed method is feasible and can be used for irrigation in dryland pastures.

A Study on Bipolar Transurethral Resection of Prostate (TURP) versus Transurethral Resection and Electrovaporization (TURP-TUVP) Sandwich Procedure

Background: TURP is the gold standard for the endoscopic treatment of BPH. Nonetheless, it remains associated with significant morbidity, especially in terms of hemorrhage leading to possible blood transfusion and delayed hospital discharge. TUVP is associated with reported improvements in subjective and objective measures but a high rate of postoperative irritative symptoms and lack of tissue for histologic examination. The concept behind TURP and TUVP sandwich procedure is to overcome the drawbacks of the two procedures. Objective: To compare the outcome of bipolar transurethral resection of prostate (TURP) and bipolar transurethral resection and electrovaporization of prostate (TURP-TUVP) sandwich procedure in patient with benign prostatic hyperplasia. Methods: This quasi experimental study was conducted in the Department of Urology, National Institute of Kidney Diseases and Urology (NIKDU), Dhaka, Bangladesh from July 2017 to June 2019 over a period of 2 years. Sixty patients with BOO caused by benign prostatic hyperplasia scheduled for transurethral resection of prostate were included in this study. Patients were selected first by purposive sampling and were grouped into A and B with randomization. Group A patients underwent bipolar TURP while group B patients underwent sandwich method. Perioperative findings as well as IPSS Qmax and PVR after 3 months of operation were compared. Results: Operative time was significantly longer in TURP-TUVP group than in TURP group (P value 0.036).Post operative hospital stay was significantly longer in TURP group (P value <0.001). Catheterization time was significantly higher in TURP group (P value <0.001).Intra-operative irrigation was significantly higher in TURP-TUVP group (P value 0.001). Post operative irrigation time was significantly longer in TURP group (P value <0.001). Hemoglobin decrease was significantly higher in TURP group (P value <0.001). Similarly, sodium decrease was higher in TURP group than that of TURP-TUVP group but not statistically significant (P value 0.81).Clot retention was 2 (6.7%) in TURP group. Short-term follow up at 3 month showed no significant difference in IPSS in TURP and TURP-TUVP groups (P value 0.349), significantly higher Qmax in TURP-TUVP group (P value 0.022) and significantly higher PVR in TURP group (P value0.005) Conclusion:. TURP-TUVP procedure has higher operative time and intraoperative irrigation, but has significantly lower catheterization time, postoperative irrigation time, hemoglobin change and hospital stay. Bangladesh J. Urol. 2021; 24(2): 161-165

How accurately can we retrieve irrigation timing and water amounts from (satellite) soil moisture?

While ensuring food security worldwide, irrigation is altering the water cycle and generating numerous environmental side effects. As detailed knowledge about the timing and the amounts of water used for irrigation over large areas is still lacking, remotely sensed soil moisture has proved potential to fill this gap. However, the spatial resolution and revisit time of current satellite products represent a major limitation to accurately estimating irrigation. This work aims to systematically quantify their impact on the retrieved irrigation information, hence assessing the value of satellite soil moisture for estimating irrigation timing and water amounts.

Evaluation of Al-Ishaqi Irrigation Project: A Case Study Eastern Canal of the Project

An evaluation the performance of the irrigation system for the Al-Ishaqi irrigation project for the Eastern Canal was conducted to identify management strategies that can be used to improve the operation and performance of the irrigation system. The study area is located in Salah al-Din G.0overnorate, Iraq. The field work included determining the moisture content of the soil before and after irrigation, measuring the inflow of the field to find the depth of the applied water, field monitoring, and measuring the depth of the root zone for each irrigation process. Field measurements showed that the average efficiency of water application for the two fields (A, and B) are 59.81% and 38.6%, respectively. The results of the efficiency of water application showed that farmers use water more than the actual demand, so it was possible to increase the efficiency of field water use by controlling the quantities of water that supplied and controlling the irrigation time and water distribution within the irrigated land. The results also showed that the storage efficiency of the two fields (A, and B) ranged between (39.1% to 68.28%), and (41.80% to 79.8%), respectively. As for the efficiency of water distribution, the average distribution efficiency for fields (A) and (B) was about (99.54%) and (99.33%), respectively. The irrigation efficiency evaluation done in the Al-Ishaqi Irrigation Project revealed that farmers utilize more water than is required, resulting in a substantial amount of water being lost in the fields observed in this research owing to inefficient use. If the current scenario continues, groundwater levels would undoubtedly rise, putting the irrigation system's long-term viability in jeopardy.

Single irrigation at the four-leaf stage in the spring optimizes winter wheat water consumption characteristics and water use efficiency

Water scarcity is a key constraint to crop production in North China Plain (NCP), which produces the majority of the country’s winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The objective of this three-year field study was to see whether and when irrigation one-time in spring improved grain productivity and water use efficiency. Four sets of irrigation were established at the 3-leaf visible stage (L3) and the L4, L5, and L6 stages. When irrigation time was postponed, the spike number, 1000-grain weight, and water consumption increased progressively, whereas grain yield, grain number, dry matter, harvest, and WUE grew, then dropped, and peaked at L4. The increased grain number can be attributed to the L4's higher daily water consumption and water consumption percentage throughout the jointing-anthesis stages compared to the L3, L5, and L6. The cumulative (37 days), whereas it was longer in L3, L5, and L6(40, 42, and 43 days, respectively). Furthermore, flag leaf senescence was postponed in L4 with a higher post-anthesis leaf area index, photosynthetic rate, chlorophyll content, higher superoxide dismutase activity, and lower malondialdehyde concentration. As a result, single irrigation at the 4-leaf visible stage optimized water deficit and consumption before and after anthesis, resulting in higher yield and WUE in the NCP.

Conceptualising and Implementing an Agent-Based Model of an Irrigation System

The literature on irrigated agriculture is primarily concerned with irrigation techniques, irrigation water-use efficiency, and crop yields. How human and non-human agents co-shape(d) irrigation landscapes through their activities and how these actions impact long-term developments are less well studied. In this study, we aim to (1) explore interactions between human and non-human agents in an irrigation system; (2) model the realistic operation of an irrigation system in an agent-based model environment, and; (3) study how short-term irrigation management actions create long-term irrigation system patterns. An agent-based model (ABM) was used to build our Irrigation-Related Agent-Based Model (IRABM). We implemented various scenarios, combining different irrigation control methods (time versus water demand), different river discharges, varied gate capacities, and several water allocation strategies. These scenarios result in different yields, which we analyse on the levels of individual farmer, canal, and system. Demand control gives better yields under conditions of sufficient water availability, whereas time control copes better with water deficiency. As expected, barley (Hordeum vulgare, Poaceae) yields generally increase when irrigation time and/or river discharge increase. The effect of gate capacity is visible with yields not changing linearly with changing gate capacities, but showing threshold behaviour. With the findings and analysis, we conclude that IRABM provides a new perspective on modelling the human-water system, as non-human model agents can create the dynamics that realistic irrigation systems show as well. Moreover, this type of modelling approach has a large potential to be theoretically and empirically used to explore the interactions between irrigation-related agents and understand how these interactions create water and yields patterns. Furthermore, the developed user-interface model allows non-technical stakeholders to participate and play a role in modelling work.

Uso consuntivo de água da bananeira sob micro irrigação usando uma aproximação do balanço de água do solo

ABSTRACT DMulching contributes to the maintenance of soil moisture at reasonable levels for crop growth. It influences the crop water demand and irrigation time. The aim of this study was to estimate evapotranspiration and root water uptake by the ‘BRS Princesa’ banana cultivar through a simple approach using some components of soil water balance within the root zone in bare and mulched soil irrigated by drip and micro sprinkler systems. The experimental design was completely randomized in split plots with six replicates. The plots consisted of two irrigation systems (drip and micro sprinkler), the subplots consisted of two soil surface conditions: with and without mulch. The alternative approach for soil water percolation in the soil water balance allowed obtaining ETc under field condition with reasonable accuracy. ETc estimated from the root zone water balance is lower than ETc from FAO Penman-Monteith equation. Root water extraction in the mulched soil under drip irrigation is higher than that under micro sprinkler irrigation.

Dynamics of nitrous oxide emissions from two cropping systems in southwestern France over 5 years: Cross impact analysis of heterogeneous agricultural practices and local climate variability

Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions were measured and compared on 2 typical crop rotations of a grain farm and a dairy farm with feed cropping, over 5 years (from 2012 to 2016) in southwestern France. The annual N2O emissions of the 5 typical rotational crops of the region (summer crops: irrigated maize and sunflower; winter crops: winter wheat, rapeseed and barley) varied from 0.95 ± 0.88 to 7.96 ± 1.73 kgN ha−1, with the highest values observed on the dairy farm plot and for summer crops. N2O emissions were analysed on a daily, monthly, seasonal and annual basis, and correlated with their main direct or indirect drivers, i. e. water and nitrogen (mineral or organic) supply amount, rotational crops, vegetation covering and tillage. We observed a marked seasonal pattern of N2O emission peaks. On average, more than 50% of N2O emissions occurred during spring for summer crops, and more than 40% occurred in winter for winter crops. We have identified agricultural practices that increase N2O emissions. In particular, our results show that when the soil is left bare or with limited crop development, spring mineralization of organic N residues (from previous crop or winter cover crop) results in N losses, partly as emissions of N2O, which are detrimental to agronomic performance (low NUE). We also conducted an agronomic assessment of annual N2O emissions versus nitrogen surplus and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), which lead us to discuss agricultural practices that may mitigate N2O emissions while optimizing agronomic and economic performance of crops. Indeed, we point out that N surplus and N fate may be controlled through the right timing of sowing, cover crop, irrigation and fertilization.

Assessment Level of Environmental Literacy among Applied Science Private University (ASU) students

Environmental literacy EL is a significant aspect that must be implanted in education; to continuously protect environment systems, communities, and future generations. Students should understand skills and motivation to make responsible decisions for a sustainable environment. This research aimed to assess student EL and evaluate the influence of demographic factors on the EL level among students at Applied Science Private University in Jordan. A total of 323 students; 53.6% male, and 46.4% females- took the EL test. The test had three parts: student’s demographic profile, environmental knowledge, and attitude. The findings indicated that students had high environmental knowledge of energy, pollution, and recycling. The results also showed that students had a moderate level of environmental knowledge on issues such as environmental concerns, ecology, water scarcity, global warming, and ozone layer depletion. The lower mean scores were determined for items on time of gardens irrigation and flue gas. It also revealed no differences between Gender, faculty, cumulative average, and income levels affect EL. Multimedia alongside books and school environmental experience served as the key source of environmental information. It concluded that environmental knowledge does not always influence the behavioral intentions, so a national strategy is needed to improve current curricula in higher education institution.

IoT-Based Monitoring System Applied to Aeroponics Greenhouse.

The inclusion of the Internet of Things (IoT) in greenhouses has become a fundamental tool for improving cultivation systems, offering information relevant to the greenhouse manager for decision making in search of optimum yield. This article presents a monitoring system applied to an aeroponic greenhouse based on an IoT architecture that provides user information on the status of the climatic variables and the appearance of the crop in addition to managing the irrigation timing and the frequency of visual inspection using an application developed for Android mobile devices called Aeroponics Monitor. The proposed IoT architecture consists of four layers: a device layer, fog layer, cloud layer and application layer. Once the information about the monitored variables is obtained by the sensors of the device layer, the fog layer processes it and transfers it to the Thingspeak and Firebase servers. In the cloud layer, Thingspeak analyzes the information from the variables monitored in the greenhouse through its IoT analytic tools to generate historical data and visualizations of their behavior, as well as an analysis of the system’s operating status. Firebase, on the other hand, is used as a database to store the results of the processing of the images taken in the fog layer for the supervision of the leaves and roots. The results of the analysis of the information of the monitored variables and of the processing of the images are presented in the developed app, with the objective of visualizing the state of the crop and to know the function of the monitoring system in the event of a possible lack of electricity or a service line failure in the fog layer and to avoid the loss of information. With the information about the temperature of the plant leaf and the relative humidity inside the greenhouse, the vapor pressure deficit (VPD) in the cloud layer is calculated; the VPD values are available on the Thingspeak server and in the developed app. Additionally, an analysis of the VPD is presented that demonstrates a water deficiency from the transplanting of the seedling to the cultivation chamber. The IoT architecture presented in this paper represents a potential tool for the study of aeroponic farming systems through IoT-assisted monitoring.

Irrigation Scheduling and Weed Management: A Sustainable Approach for Managing Broomrape and Other Weeds in Tomato Crop

Broomrape (Orobanche cernua L.) is an obligate root parasitic weed that significantly reduces the qualitative and yield attributes of tomatoes globally. The efficient management of broomrape is challenging because of its complicated parasitic nature. Field trials were conducted to assess the influence of various irrigation scheduling and weed control strategies on broomrape, weed presence, and tomato productivity. The experiment was conducted with a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with a split-plot arrangement and was replicated three times. Three irrigation intervals (3, 6, and 9 days) were assigned to the main block, while sub-blocks including treatments and year were taken as the source of variance (year × irrigation timing × treatments). The experiment comprised sixteen treatments, including transparent polythene, black polythene, weedy check (Control), sole weeding of broomrape only, weeding of all weeds, weeding except broomrape, humic acid 25 kg ha−1+ copper oxychloride in single and split doses, copper oxychloride (1.5 kg a.i ha−1 in single and split doses), ammonium sulphate 200 kg ha−1 in single and split doses, copper sulfate (2 kg ha−1 in single/split doses), and glyphosate 48 SL (1.5 kg a.i ha−1) and pendimethalin 33 EC (1.44 kg a.i ha−1). The results revealed that among the various irrigation intervals, the highest broomrape intensity (4.34 plant−1) was observed with a9-day irrigation interval. Similarly, the highest weed density (35 m−2) resulted in a3-day irrigation interval. Furthermore, irrigation at a 6-day interval increased the plant height by 11%, fruit yield tons ha−1 by 24.9 %, and produced the highest cost/benefit ratio (CBR) of (1:4). Black polythene, transparent polythene, and pendimethalin reduced the weed density by 92%, 89%, and 84%;weed dry biomass by 97%, 95%, and 91%; and broomrape intensity by 67%, 77%, and 28%. Conversely, the plant height increased by 24%, 23%, and 23.6%; and fruit yield by 286%, 270%, and 191%; and had the highest CBR of 1:5, 1:4, and 1:4, respectively, as compared to the weedy check. Consequently, an increase in irrigation frequency increases other weed densities and decreases the broomrape intensity plant−1 of tomato. Therefore, black polythene could be recommended in a severely broomrape-infested field. Moreover, irrigation at 6-day intervals combined with pendimethalin and ammonium sulfate fertilizers revealed the lowest incidence of broomrape and other weeds and produced an economic yield.

Remote sensing-based vegetation and soil moisture constraints reduce irrigation estimation uncertainty

Understanding the human water footprint and its impact on the hydrological cycle is essential to inform water management under climate change. Despite efforts in estimating irrigation water withdrawals in earth system models, uncertainties and discrepancies exist within and across modeling systems conditioned by model structure, irrigation parameterization, and the choice of input datasets. Achieving model reliability could be much more challenging for data-sparse regions, given limited access to ground truth for parameterization and validation. Here, we demonstrate the potential of utilizing remotely sensed vegetation and soil moisture observations in constraining irrigation estimation in the Noah-MP land surface model. Results indicate that the two constraints together can effectively reduce model sensitivity to the choice of irrigation parameterization by 7%–43%. It also improves the characterization of the spatial patterns of irrigation and its impact on evapotranspiration and surface soil moisture by correcting for vegetation conditions and irrigation timing. This study highlights the importance of utilizing remotely sensed soil moisture and vegetation measurements in detecting irrigation signals and correcting for vegetation growth. Integrating the two remote sensing datasets into the model provides an effective and less feature engineered approach to constraining the uncertainty of irrigation modeling. Such strategies can be potentially transferred to other modeling systems and applied to regions across the globe.

Urinary and sexual function changes in benign prostatic hyperplasia patients before and after transurethral columnar balloon dilatation of the prostate.

BACKGROUNDTransurethral columnar balloon dilatation of the prostate (TUCBDP) is a new surgical treatment, but its efficacy remains controversial because of limited clinical application.AIMTo investigate the clinical effect of TUCBDP for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).METHODSOverall, 140 patients with BPH who underwent surgical treatment were included in the study. A random number table was used to divide the participants into study and control groups (n = 70 per group). The study group underwent TUCBDP. The prostate resection surgical time, intraoperative blood loss, bladder irrigation time, catheter indwelling time, length of hospital stay, International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), maximum urine flow rate (Qmax), residual urine volume (RUV), changes in the International Erectile Function Score (IIEF-5) score, serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA), quality of life (QOL) score, and surgical complications were compared in both groups.RESULTSThe operation time, intraoperative blood loss volume, bladder flushing time, urinary catheter indwelling time, and length of hospital stay were significantly lower in the study group than in the control group (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in the IPSS, Qmax, and RUV measurements between the study and control groups (P > 0.05). However, at 3 mo post-surgery, the IPSS and RUV measurements were both lower (P < 0.05) and Qmax values were higher (P < 0.05) compared to the pre-surgery results in both groups. The IIEF-5 scores before and 3 mo after surgery were not significantly different between the study and control groups (P > 0.05). At 1 mo after surgery, the IIEF-5 score was higher in the study group than in the control group (P < 0.05). The serum PSA levels and QOL scores before treatment and at 1 and 3 mo after treatment were not significantly different between the study and control groups (P > 0.05). However, lower serum PSA levels and QOL scores were observed after 1 and 3 mo of treatment compared to pre-treatment levels in the study group (P < 0.05). The surgical complication rate of the study group (4.29%) was lower than that of the control group (12.86%; P < 0.05).CONCLUSIONTUCBDP for BPH and transurethral resection of the prostate can achieve better results, but the former method is associated with less surgical trauma.